Method of making a pile fabric



Sept. 1, 1959 s. 1 sT. JOHN METHOD OF MAKING A PILE FABRIC Filed April 19, 1956 INVENTOR. SYLVESTER L. ST. JOHN ATTOR N EYS` United States Patent O 2,902,397 METHOD or MAKlNo A PILE FABRIC Sylvester L. St. John, Wareham, Mass., assigner to Dike, Thompson & Sanborn, Boston, Mass., a partnership Application April 19, 1956, Serial No. 579,334`

` s claims. (cl. 154-48) it possible to produce such carpets with less equipment` and greater ease and more economically than other carpets having pile or loop surfaces.

The method comprising my present invention consists essentially in forming a series of parallel projections or pleats on one face of a sheet of material referred to as the 'base' sheet and securingrows of pile filaments in the spaces conveniently called valleys between adjacent projections or pleats. In carrying out the fundamental idea of the invention, it is preferred tofeed `arow of parallel strands from which the pile filaments are to be formed into position in proximity with the base sheet and then, bymeans of a reciprocating blade, force the parallel strands `and the base sheet simultaneously down into a groove in a cooperating supporting and forming surface thereby forming a valley in the base sheet and at the same time placing *the filaments therein; then advancing the work supporting surface and the work a distance equal to the width of a valley and then repeating the step of forcing the filaments and fabric into a groove in the work supporting surface. The pile filaments are preferably secured in the valleys by adhesive which may be provided either by coating or irnpregnating the base sheet with a -suitable adhesive or by yapplying the adhesive simultaneously with or before or Iafter the insertion of each row of pile filaments. The result of this procedure is that each filament is formed into a U-shaped loop in the bottom of one valley iand one leg of this loop is extended over the outer edge of the intervening projection down into the next valley, thereby forming the next loop. Therefore, the pile fabric is formed with one series of loops in the bottom of each valley `and another series of loops extending over the top of the `adjacent projection or pleat and down `into the next valley. Such a fabric has a loop surface but when it is desired to form a fabric with a cut pile the loops which have been formed over the edges of the projection and form the exposed surface of the fabric may be cut either as they are formed or subsequently by shearing the face of the fabric.

After the str-ands which form the pile filaments have been placed in the valleys, the two walls of each valley are pressed together to bring them into intimate contact with the pile filaments and the adhesive and then there is applied to the underside of the carpet a backing, ordinarily in the form of a .textile sheet, coated with adhesive on the side which comes in contact with the bottom edges of the pleats.

An adhesive which can be set or hardened -as by heat ice or by drying may be used, but a vulcanizable adhesive is preferable. Therefore, after the rows of pile filaments have been set and compressed between the walls of the valleys the pile is pressed down against the base sheet.

and the fabric is passed through an oven thereby setting, hardening or vulcanizing the adhesive.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a flow sheet showing the steps of the methodV comprising my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of one form of carpet made by the method comprising my presentinvention.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal diagrammatical view illustratingV apparatus for practicing the invention.

Fig. 4 is a section on an enlarged scale illustrating the action of the grooved belt in compressing the sides of the valleys against the included pile filaments.

In practicing my present invention in its present form,`

the first step, `as indicated by the flow-sheet designated Fig. l, is to provide adhesive by which `the pile filaments may be secured to the base-sheet 10. This is conveniently done by coating the base-sheet on one or both sides, butpreferably on one side, with a suitable adhesive or by imprega-ating the sheet. In practice it is convenient to use a vulcanizable adhesive which is dry and non-tacky at `room temperature, which becomes tacky when heated slightly above room temperature, and can be vulcanized by heating to a suitable vulcanizing temperature. The base sheet 10 is then heated as by being passed over a heating roll 11 which softens the adhesive. The base sheet 10 is then fed over a flexible grooved surface 12,4

preferably in the form of an endless belt having grooves 13. in its upper surface.

14 and` 15. As the belt 12 passes over the roller 14,

the belt is bent Iand this opens the grooves 13 (see Fig. y

Thereupon a reciprocating blade or knife 17 descends and pushes the yarns 16 first into Contact with the basesheet 10 and then by further downward movement pushes the base-sheet into the cooperating groove v13, and thus forms a valley 18 (see Fig. 2) within which are U-shaped loops 19 of yarn, the legs of which extend outward along the sides of the valley 18. Next the grooved belt 12 is fed along far enough to bring the next groove 20 under the blade or knife 17, which then descends and pushes the base-sheet 10 and included yarns into the groove 20, thus forming a second valley 21 separated from the first valley 18 by a projection or pleat 22 over the upper edge of which is formed -a U-shaped bend or loop 23. The height of the loops or pile filaments may be varied by regulating the rate of feed of the yarns, and] the height of the projections or pleats, and consequently the thickness of the carpet, may be varied by varying the length of stroke of the blades. The series of `U-shaped bends or loops 23 forms the face of the carpet and these loops may be left uncut or the surface of the carpet may be sheared to produce a cut pile as desired.

As the belt or grooved surface 12 passes off the curved surface here shown as a roller 1-4, each groove 13 closes and brings the sides of the groove closer together pressing the yarns 16 between the sides of the valley 18 and bringing the base-sheet 10 and the yarns 16, which form the pile filament, into firm adhesive contact with each other, yand this pressure is maintained until the pleated base-sheet 10 with the yarns 16 in the valleys 18 rides off the second curved surface 15, whereupon the successive grooves I13 open releasing the pleated base-sl1eet and allowing it to be removed from the belt 12. At this time a backing 24 having an adhesive surface is fed into contact with the under Patented Sept. 1, 1959' This flexible grooved belt 123` passes around two curved surfaces, here shown as rollers surface of the pleated base-sheet 10. The roots or lower edges of the pleats in the base-sheet are brought in contact with the adhesive surface of the backing 24. The carpet is then fed between the converging upper and lower travelling`belts`26v and 27 which compress the carpet' and make certainl that the pile filaments, the base-sheet at the roots of the valleys 18 `and the backing 24 are in close Contact with eac'n other. After this the carpet passes into and through an oven 28 where it is `subjected to suitable heating, drying or vulcanizing temperatures chosen according to the particular adhesive employed which welds the contacting parts into a strong unitary structure.

I claim:

1. The method of making a pile fabric which includes providing a base sheetV with an adhesive face, forming the base sheet into pleats separated by valleys having adhesive faces, placing outwardly extending pile filaments in the valleys land pressing the sides ofthe pleats against the portions of the pile filaments which are within the valleys.

2. The method of making a carpet which includes providing a base sheet with an adhesive face, forming the base sheet into `alternate pleats and valleys and simultaneously therewith placing in the valleys outwardly extending pile filaments, and then pressing the sides of the valleys 'against the portions of the pile filaments which are within the valleys.

3. The method of making a pile fabric which includes providing a base sheet with an adhesive face, forming the base sheet with projections separated by valleys, placing outwardly extending pile filaments with their inner ends in contact with the adhesive sides of the valleys, and setting the adhesive.

4. The method of making a pile fabric which includes providing a base sheet with a vulcanizable adhesive face,

forming the base sheet with projections separated by valleys, placing outwardly extending pile filaments with their inner ends in Contact with the adhesive sides `of the valleys, and vuloanizing the adhesive.

5. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises feeding a series of parallel strands onto a base sheet having a vulcanizable adhesive surface, subjecting the strands and the base sheet to pressure along a line transverse of the parallel strands and thereby forming two pleats, portions of the strands being placed thereby in the valley with the remainder of the strands extending outwardly therefrom, then forming another valley and pieat adjacent the first valley, compressing the sides of the successive valleys against the portions ofthe strands between them, and vulcanizing the adhesive.

6. The method of forming a pile fabric which comprises feeding a series of parallel strands over the face of an adhesive base sheet, forming pleats and valleys in the base sheet by forcing the base sheet and strands thereon into a groove formed transversely of a liexiblebelt provided with a series of transverse grooves while the grooves in the belt are opened by being fed about a curved surface, closing the grooves in the belt by movement of the belt off the curved surface and thereby compressing the parallel strands between the sides of the valleys in the base sheet and setting the adhesive while the valley in the base sheet and its contained yams are under compression by the sides of the groove.

' 7. The method of claim 6 in which the height of the pleats and consequently the thickness of the resulting pile fabric is regulated by varying the extent to which the base sheet and the strands are forced into the grooves in` the flexible belt.

V8. The method of making a pile fabric which includes coating a base sheet with adhesive, forming in said base sheet successive parallel ridges and intervening valleys, the Walls of said valleys being coated with adhesive, forming a series of parallel pile filaments into a sheet, feeding said sheet of parallel pile filaments into contact with the adhesive walls of the valleys in the base sheet thereby forming a series of invented loops ofthe filaments therein, and compressing the adhesive Walls of the valleys against the sides of the inverted loops and thereby securing said inverted loops of pile filaments in the botoms and to the 'sides of the valleys.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 671,873 Worcester Apr. 9, 1 2,116,048 Smith l May 3, 1938 2,248,135 Stoddard July 8, 1941 2,550,686 Goldman May 1, 1951 

1. THE METHOD OF MAKING A PILE FABRIC WHICH INCLUDES PROVIDING A BASE SHEET WITH AN ADHESIVE FACE, FORMING THE BASE SHEET INTO PLEATS SEPARATED BY VALLEYS HAVING ADHESIVE FACES, PLACING OUTWARDLY EXTENDING PILE FILAMENTS IN THE VALLEYS AND PRESSING THE SIDED OF THE PLEATS AGAINST THE PORTIONS OF THE PILE FILAMENTS WHICH ARE WITHIN THE VALLEYS. 